Vineyard workers are essential to the Washington state wine industry and their contributions often go unsung. Crafted with donated grapes from Stillwater Creek Vineyard, proceeds from the sale of this wine benefit Columbia Valley vineyard workers through a donation to the Othello clinic of the Columbia Basin Health Association. Salud a todos! Cheers!

The story

On September 15, 2020, a ton and a half of Merlot grapes donated from Stillwater Creek Vineyard were carefully handpicked in the vineyard and then trucked to the winery where we destemmed and literally hand sorted the fruit to minimize any “green” character from stems in the fermenter. Twice daily punchdowns throughout the 11-day fermentation until we pressed off. The free run and press wines were blended in tank to settle overnight. The next day we filled five neutral French oak barrels for malolactic and 18 months of barrel aging. I used Cabernet Sauvignon to top up the barrels. We bottled without fining or filtration in May 2022.

On Tuesday, December 12, 2023 a team of medical clinicians and dental hygienists from the Columbia Basin Health Association Othello Clinic came to Royal City, WA to provide free health screenings for vineyard workers from Stillwater Creek. All told, 35 vineyard workers received vision, hearing and dental screenings, blood pressure and blood glucose checks, and free flu vaccinations.

And all of it was funded by sales of Orr 2020 Royal Slope Red Wine!

Best of all, next year’s event is already in the works! The 2021 vintage of the Vineyard Worker Project Orr Royal Slope Red Wine is for sale now. We’ll bottle the 2022 vintage, currently aging in barrel, next summer. Thank you to YOU for your continued support. It is an honor to bring this delicious and meaningful wine to your table.

Tasting notes

The 2020 Orr Wines Red Wine is a blend of 92% Merlot with 8% Cabernet Sauvignon. Hand-sorted, this was entirely stored in neutral oak before bottling in May 2022. This is beautifully textured with a soft mouthfeel and delivers chocolate covered cherry, roasted dates and graphite notes. Drinking nicely now, enjoy now and over the next eight years. Drink 2022-2030

91 points Owen Bargreen https://owenbargreen.com/blog/2022/9/9/orr-wines

About the artist

Printmaker Christie Tirado’s powerful series on Essential Workers of the Yakima Valley inspired the label for the Vineyard Worker’s Project. A recipient of the 2020 Larry Sommers Fellowship from Seattle Print Arts, Tirado focuses on illustrating different work perspectives from Mexican farmworkers in the Yakima Valley agricultural industry. Her artwork appears at a multitude of West Coast galleries, including the Washington State’s Art Commission, Sun Valley Museum of Art, Chehalem Cultural Center, Davidson Galleries, Gallery One, the Larson Gallery, Boxx Gallery and Sonoma State University. She graduated in 2013 from the University of Washington with an art degree specializing in Printmaking and Ceramics and a minor in Art History. She currently teaches art at an elementary school in Union Gap, WA.

In the Summer of 2021, I reached out to her about potential collaboration. She asked me to send her my photos of workers taken during harvest over the years, and joined me for a day at Stillwater Creek Vineyard, walking vineyard rows and chatting in Spanish with the crew who were working on the vines. She is selling prints of this label artwork on her website. https://christietiradoarte.com/shop/columbia-valley-vineyard-workers

To learn more about Christie’s art, follow her on Instagram as christietirado_arte.